Tripel Tasting Thread (March 25-27, 2022)

Here we go again

Val-Dieu Tripel
11.2oz bottle Best before end 20/05/23 poured into a chalice at 53° Fahrenheit 9% ABV. The beer pours mostly bright honey colored amber with nearly white head. The head recedes to an uneven cap and leaves a web of lacing. The aroma is slightly sweet pale malt with additional notes of banana, apple, pear and clove. The taste is semisweet pale malt with restrained banana, appleand clove. Mild earthy bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with above average carbonation and a dry finish. No trace of the ABV in the aroma or taste. Overall, very good. Nicely balanced & dangerously drinkable at 9%

This one was quite enjoyable to my taste and I'm quite happy to have a bottle of their quad in the fridge as well.

Cheers all!

 

I re-read my review from years ago along with others and many mention the tartness. I had no tolerance for sour beers then, so I was probably a little heavy handed in my criticism.

Also, I had no idea there were Lidl stores in the U.S. My daughter is heading to North Carolina for college in the fall and there appear to be several stores there. Hopefully, I can grab some discount Belgian beer in the process.

 

Wrapping up my tasting still enjoying my final Tripel, this one a local brewed within 5 miles of my house.

Une Annee Tripel



Full review in the New Beer Sunday thread. I am enjoying this offering, it's a solid tripel with everything in proper balance and brewed to style. I am grateful a local brewer is committed to producing these classic Belgian offerings.

I am also grateful to participate, both as a drinker and a reader, and for Frank's solid planning and hosting of this event. I learned a lot, and was very happy to find another elite Tripel with the fresh Chimay Cinq Cents. I'll be back in the beer buying mode and considering fresh(ish) classics including Tripels, which I'm really glad I dove into this weekend.

Not sure if the Bock tasting is next, or perhaps another squeezed in, but as always can't wait for the next weekend to explore and learn with the many great BAs we have around the world!

 

Permit me to do some ciphering (Beverly Hillbillies reference) here:

A Patersbier would have a target OG of around 1.040 with an example list of fermentables:

6.0 lb (2.7 kg) | Belgian Pilsner malt

0.5 lb (0.2 kg) | Special B malt

0.25 lb (113 g) | Carafa malt

1.0 lb (0.5 kg) | Turbinado sugar

In contrast a Tripel would target OG of around 1.080 with an example list of fermentables:

14.0 lb (2.7 kg) | Belgian Pilsner malt

2.5 lb (0.5 kg) | Turbinado sugar

Pretty easy to discern that a Tripel does not require even close to triple the amount of malt/fermentables.

Entirely up to you whether you want to categorize this as ‘proof positive’ that the assertion of Tripel = triple the amount of malt/fermentables is BS or not.

Cheers!

 

Back to a tripel from Belgium with #2 for the day and #6 for the tasting.

Chimay Cinq Cents - Tripel #16 - BOF #219
ABV: 8.0%
IBU: 36

2 inch white, billowing, creamy, thick head with very good retention, that leaves sticky lacing around the glass and forms a rocky, uneven surface as it does recede. Hazy golden amber with very active carbonation.

Strong aroma; I can smell it while pouring. Bready, light fruit, and spice. Sweet-ish.

The initial taste carries indistinct fruit - pear, perhaps, bread, floral, and peppery spice. A solid bitterness begins in the middle, along with some citrus, and continues into the finish and aftertaste. This is the most bitter of any tripel so far for me in the tasting (with only the Karmeliet to go). The finish brings a bit of an earthy character. The level of bittering is in APA territory, which I was not expecting. In fact, the package of flavors, with the citrus, floral, and bitterness, is more APA than any of the other Belgian-style tripel ales I had in this tasting. It is very tasty, but certainly different from present company. While the aroma seemed to promise sweetness, the finish is quite dry.

Mouth feel has a moderate body with the carbonation bubbles active on my tongue.

Overall, a tasty beer, nothing out of balance, but a bit of an outlier in the company of the other Belgian tripels. It definitely brings more from the hops (citrus and bitterness) than do the others.

L: 4.5 | S: 4.25 | T: 4.0 | F: 3.75 | O: 4.0 | Rating: 4.07

 

Is this a typo Jack?

 

One of the first beers that got me into craft beer. Still awesome after all these years.

 

Guessing I have the only tripel of the weekend named after an eccentric cow.
Crazy Daizy , from The Farmhouse.
Had this plenty of times , but realized something new. I do see what @Snowcrash000 & somebody else mentioned, that fresh is better with this style. It was bottled ~2 weeks ago.
(They ended up with more beer than labels ,hence the handwritten one.) Got a growler too, so I could save this bottle, otherwise I don't think I could have held off til now.

Anyway......
*Clear deep gold with maybe? 2 fingers of white head. Photo is accurate , color-wise. It's still effervescing , champagne-like +/-, 15 minutes after that photo.

*Smell is somewhat hard to describe. There is an estery, citrusy aroma, but slightly boozy. Orange marmalade , fermented? Probably as close as I can come up with. Plus the usual phenolic elements (h/t @JackHorzempa for the details) , reminiscent of coriander & black pepper present in wittes,saisons, etc. Just the barest hints of banana & clove(thankfully) , & no stone fruit-type aromas present.

* Taste is orange rind, those spicy elements in the aroma, a hint of bread dough, & a bit of funk/brandy/mouthwash[in the best way possible ] on finish, & lingering after. Very slight, lingering bitterness.

* Feel is light [:0], super-smooth , with moderate, very,very fine carbonation bite. Despite the 9.5% abv, it just dances across the palate, with a light touch . The abv is near invisible*. Also, despite the honey, it seems on the dry side . Guessing that without the honey, it would be brut-IPA-level dry. Except for the brain-fog, it seems more like a 4+% saison, but definitely not "thin".

* Overall, one of my favorite beers. Every time I have it, I end up wondering why I don't have it more often . ( Real answer : brewery is 9 mi away, no distribution, & I usually end up parking 1/2 mi away, & have to lug the beer , mostly growlers, that 1/2mi+ back to the car, usually in the rain. [When it rains, I don't usually have to be anywhere, so why not go to Owego?])
Drinking this, I find myself agreeing w/ @zid , as I did when reading, that these are basically strong golden ales.

4.56/5 rDev +16%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35315/176943/#navigation

*Marty is really good , as far as his beers hiding the abv.
4? yrs ago , The Farmhouse was at a charity fundraiser for the Discovery Center, a local children's hands-on science education site/organization. As we (my work) often work with them, we(co-workers & I) go to that event. One of my co-workers/boss (Amy) sampled Crazy Daizy at that event, & was similarly impressed with it . A couple months later , she managed to have a Saturday off, so planned to go to a local farmers' market that day. About 10:30am, a co-worker, phone in hand, called over to me : "Amy has a question..."
Me : "Crazy Daizy"
The Farmhouse went to farmers' markets at that time, so guessed correctly.
After she got home, having the house all to herself that day, she sat down with the bottle, & a book she had been waiting awhile to read. About the time she finished it (bottle), the dogs made it known that they needed to go out.
Well.....Amy hadn't read the label, & noted the abv. Though just a hair under 6', it still hit hard when she stood up. The dogs did have to go out though. So,.... of course,... she ran into a plethora of people she knew, while walking the dogs. She felt a bit self-conscious/embarrassed "stumbling around the neighborhood", at ~ 1:30pm.

 

Much has been written about each of these; I tried them back to back with the Trappistes Rochefort Triple Extra being first. It ended up being my favorite so far, hit all the appropriate check boxes in excellent proportion.
The Westmalle was also excellent but the carbonation was so active that it made it almost metallic in feel which rather distracted from the rest. But really, both were very, very good.
The third for today may not be a Tripel, (I thought it was when I bought it, go figure) so it may end up in NBW instead of here. Either way, awesome tasting weekend!

 

The value of 14 lbs. is not a typo.

Inherent in both recipes above is an assumed brewhouse efficiency.

Regardless of assumed efficiency the difference will not be a factor of 3x.

Cheers!

 

One last Tripel for the weekend, Rochefort. Looking at the thread there is a definite mixed reaction to this one and I will throw my $0.02. Started with a bottle that the yeast had settled on and carefully poured it to leave most of the yeast behind for the review. When I poured into the yeast I notice I’m getting some duller flavors and less brightness and I do notice that a lot of pictures have a hazier appearance.
4.26/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
by larryi86 from Delaware

330 ml bottle poured into a goblet

A- A fairly clear golden straw with a small white head.

S- Earthy spice, sweet bread, some apple, banana, floral, nice yeast flavors, touch of cloves.

T- Earthy, floral, sweet bread, apple, touch of bananas, some honey, some cloves s

M- Smooth, light to medium body, dry.

O- A well done and easy to drink Tripel. I will say I enjoy Rochefort 10 and 8 more but this is still a quality example of the style.

As always I really enjoyed this tasting weekend, personally the revisiting of classic styles are always my favorite since they keep reminding me of great self beers I often walk by, cheers!

 

Victory Golden Monkey - dated best by Jan 28 2023 so if they are still dating these 3 years out, it was brewed a little more than 2 years ago. But it's been in my fridge for about a year, so slower aging than if at cellar temperature.

The thickness of the head is less than the other Tripels I've drank this week, the head fades to just a whispy covering, but some lacing. Aroma is a little more banana forward than I'd like (I'm not a fan of banana flavor, I almost never drink Hefeweizens for this reason). Some clove and orange zest and earthy clove in there too. Similar flavors in the taste, a little sweet with a lingering finish. medium bodied, with lively carbonation.

Overall I would say this beer doesn't seem as sweet as it used to be years ago, which is a good thing. But I would still rank it a level below the top Belgian examples of the style.

 

Tripel Karmeliet




A cloudy orange hued straw color, super bubbly big soapy bubble head. Dissipated relatively fast to a thin layer of opaque white.

Nose is very banana, bubble gum forward, has an almost bread like quality to itself, a touch of something refreshing like apple.

Taste is similar to the nose with all the same parts except the refreshing appleness is more noticeable and on the finish.

Medium body but it drinks very light, the carbonation is big when it hits the tongue, almost bubbles up the whole mouth. A really nice minor acidity on the finish.

So as I drank this I was sort of contrasting it to St Bernardus from Friday, I couldn't help myself. They are both very refreshing beers for the ABV they have, they also both drink quite easily. St Bernardus however was reminded me more of saisons I've drank. Tripel Karmeliet reminds me more of wits I have drank. Two interesting and neat beers to have tried.

 

I travel alot for work and used to drink alot of local beers at hotel rooms from paper cups, but have found that you can find decent beer glasses fairly cheap in local goodwill and salvation army locations close to the hotels. Worse case scenario, I end up buying a pint glass from the bottle shop I buy the beer from.

 

Allagash Curieux, I have seen it on shelves for years, never thought to pick one up, until now. Glad I did.



12 oz bottle poured into a Boulevard Smokestack Stemmed Tulip

The beer pours a clear golden yellow/straw color with a huge white foamy head that slowly recedes leaving behind a moderate amount of lacing.

The aroma has a lot going on, with some banana, apricot, vanilla, peppery spice. Not much actual bourbon aroma, but there is just enough to hint at the barrel aging. Very nice and inviting

The flavor is toasty and lightly bready with some fruity notes. Banana, apricot, coconut, and vanilla complimented by a peppery spiciness, and a sharp finish. Medium bodied and well carbonated.

Overall this is a nice beer and coming in at a big 10.2% you would expect more booziness, but the alcohol is well masked, making this beer easy to drink. A great example of a style that I took way too long to come around to…

 

My final beer for the tasting.

I read somewhere (on the importer's web site? I don't remember, and I didn't save the link) that this beer is brewed with an unchanged recipe from the 1600s. Well, OK. Nice AV-Inbev marketing-speak since I believe that is technically impossible (unless those 15th century brewers kept unusually detailed brewing notes and logs including sources for the malts, hops, etc.).

But, anyhow, (and not to "prime the pump" of my review), they do make those claims so I'm looking forward to tasting this one. I hope it turns out well with three more in my refrigerator.

Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet - Tripel #4 - BOF #87
ABV: 8.4%
IBU: 16

Tall, white head from a VERY gentle, drizzle down the side pour. Audible fizziness as I pour, almost like a soft drink. Very good retention leaving sticky lacing (and a nicely laced empty chalice). Slightly hazy golden body, heavily carbonated.

The aroma is not too strong, but sweet. Bubblegum, and a bit of banana.

The flavor brings the tastes promised by the aroma, sweet bubblegum and banana. The middle has very slight bittering, which does not last into the finish. Behind the already mentioned flavors is a lightly tart fruitiness, perhaps pear (hard to tell) along with a semi-sweet component - perhaps even vanilla - and floral. The finish is creamy and smooth, with an aftertaste of smoothness, maybe from the soft carbonation that is hard for me to describe, spreading out on the tongue. This aftertaste is exquisite!

The mouth feel is quite smooth (yeah, I keep using that word), with a gentle carbonation on my tongue. Moderate body.

I seem to have saved all of the really different tripels for today. Karmeliet is malty, smooth, and yet heavily carbonated with a huge creamy head, not very (if at all) spicy, several sweet components to the flavor without ever entering cloying territory and finishing only semi-sweet. The feel of the aftertaste is, as I stated above, exquisite. Wow!

An excellent way for me to end the tripel weekend!

L: 4.5 | S: 4.0 | T: 4.5 | F: 4.75 | O: 4.5 | Rating: 4.41